Theft guard for wallets



March 19, 1957 R. B. BUONAIUTO THEFT GUARD FOR WALLETS Filed Aug. 21,1956 IN V EN TOR. ROBERT E. BUONAI LJTO BY McZM ATT'OR N EYS UnitedStates Patent GUARD FoR WALLETS Robert B, Buonaiuto, Chicopee Falls,Mass., assignor to J. H. Smith Co., Inc., Greenfield, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Application August 21, 1956, Serial No.605,376

3 Claims. (Cl. 150-47) This invention relates to a device for attachmentto wallets such as billfolds to prevent surreptitious withdrawal thereoffrom the pocket in which it is carried.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device of the abovecharacter which is simple in structure yet effective in operation, whichis easily and quickly applied and removed and which is applicable tovarious forms of billfolds.

Other and further objects will be made apparent from the disclosure ofthe accompanying drawing and the following specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l is a perspective View of a theft guard "embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the device of Fig. 1 applied to abillfold, the billfold being open;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view showing the billfold closed toposition the guard in operative position;

Fig. 4 shows the billfold as in Fig. 3 position in a pocket andillustrating the mode of operation of the guard, the pocket being shownin dotted lines;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an alternative manner of applyingthe guard to a billfold;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of an alternative form of guard; and

Fig. 7 shows the guard of Fig. 6 applied to a billfold.

Referring to Fig. l, the device is shown as comprising a strip 1 ofspring material such as steel bent to form portions 2 and 3 extending atan angle of slightly greater than 90 to each other. The juncture ofportions 2 and 3 is preferably curved as indicated at 4. A second strip5, of similar material, having a straight portion 6 and a curved portion7 is welded at its curved portion 7 to the inner face of curved portion4 so that the free ends of portions 3 and 6 converge toward each otherto form the ngers of a spring clip.

In use the clip is applied to the rear Wall of a billfold 8, Fig. 2, atthe folding zone 9 thereof with fingers 3 and 6 of the clip engaging theouter and inner faces of the wall and the portion 2, which forms a guardarm extending inwardly of the rear wall, as shown in Fig. 2. When thebillfold is folded as shown in Fig. 3 the arm 2 extends in the plane ofthe folded billfold along one edge of the folded billfold and outwardlyat an angle thereto. When the folded billfold is placed in pocket 16,shown in dotted outline in Fig. 4, with the guard arm extending upwardlyat one side thereof, as shown in the latter figure, the free end of theguard arm tends to snag in the lining of the pocket as indicated at 11preventing the billfold from being withdrawn from the pocket without theowner becoming aware of the attempted withdrawal. The owner,

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however, may easily withdraw the billfold from the pocket by pressingthe guard arm against the edge of the billfold or otherwise freeing thearm from engagement with the lining.

The lengths of the clip 36 and the guard arm 2 are made slightly lessthan the dimentions of the adjacent billfold edges and the transversewidth of the clip and guard arms is made not substantially wider thanthe width of the folding zone of the billfold.

in some forms of billfolds the bottom of the billfold is formed with anopening 12, Fig. 5, at the lower end of the folding zone, and if desiredthe device may be clipped to the lower edge of the rear wall throughthis opening as shown in Fig. 5. This procedure has the advantage thatthe bill compartment is more easily accessible when the guard is inplace.

in Figs. 6 and 7 an alternative form of the device is shown. In thelatter form the clip is formed by bending a spring clip 15 to form theconverging clip arms 16 and 17 and the guard arm 18 is Welded to theouter face of the bend at the closed end of the clip as shown at 19 inFig. 6. in this form the angle between the guard arm 18 and the adjacentclip arm 17 is the angle which it is desired that the guard arm makewith the edge of the folded billfold. With the form of the device shownin Fig. 6 the clip is applied to the edge of the rear wall of thebillfold as shown in Fig. 7.

it will be understood that the device of the invention may be engraved,gold or silver plated to enhance its appearance and that it may bemolded from plastic or otherwise formed of any material having theneeded degree of resilience to function as described.

What is claimed is:

1. A theft guard for foldable pocket carried receptacles, such asbillfolds, which comprises a spring clip having opposed arms engageableon a wall of the receptacle at its folding zone, and a guard armextending from the closed end of the clip in a direction to lie in theplane of the receptacle, when the latter is folded, and diverging at anangle to the adiacent edge of the folded receptacle.

2. A theft guard for foldable pocket receptacles, such as billfolds,which comprises three arms formed of narrow fiat metal strips attachedtogether at one end and being in a common plane, two of said stripsextending in close proximity to each other to form a clip engageable onthe rear wall of the receptacle at its folding zone, the third stripmaking an angle with the clip forming strips to space the free end ofsaid third strip from the adjacent edge of the folded receptacle.

3. A theft guard for foldable pocket receptacles, such as billfolds,which comprises a narrow strip of flat spring metal centrally folded onitself to form a spring clip engageable on the rear wall of thereceptacle at its folding zone and a guard arm extending from the closedend of the clip in a direction to lie in the plane of the receptacle,when the latter is folded, and diverging at an angle to the adjacentedge of the folded receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,225,692 Willis May 8, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 495,867 France Oct. 21,1919

